Ukraine pressures FIDE General Assembly to admit Russians — source – Sports

BUDAPEST, September 21 /TASS/. Representatives of Ukraine at the General Assembly of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) have put pressure on other delegates due to the possibility that Russian and Belarusian players could regain their rights, several sources at the FIDE congress told TASS.

On September 17, the FIDE Congress opened in Budapest. The General Assembly, which will consider the issue of the return to competition of Russian and Belarusian players, will be held on September 21-22. In August, the President of the Kyrgyz Chess Federation Babur Tolbayev called for the return to competition of Russian and Belarusian players under the auspices of FIDE.

“Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation approached other delegates and FIDE representatives on the sidelines of the meeting to openly threaten and blackmail them if they supported the idea of ​​the return of Russians and Belarusians,” the source told TASS.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy said that Ukraine would impose sanctions against FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich if the rights of the Russian and Belarusian chess federations were restored.

On September 21, Tolbayev told TASS that he would ask the FIDE General Assembly to hold a secret ballot on the reinstatement of the Russians and Belarusians.